Conville



March 24, 1964 J. CONVILLE 3,125,785 WALL PARTITION FITTING Filed Aug. 9, 1960 I .Zk-r/nfor 34 I 13 m nCamzfi'Z/a United States Patent 3,125,785 WALL PARTITION FITTING John Conville, Box 753, Antioch, Ill. Filed Aug. 9, 1960, Ser. No. 48,441 3 Claims. (Cl. 20-4) This invention relates to fittings, and more particularly to fittings for use in building construction.

The present invention is particularly suitable for installing partitions in frame building constructions, but it is equally adaptable to brick, concrete, and other building constructions. In conventional partition construction three studs are usually required in forming a corner. The wall finish material, such as wallboard, or lath and plaster, is secured at the corner to the three studs. In setting a new partition in an old building difficulty may be encountered in properly securing the new studs in the old wall while preventing damage to the cut ends of the old wall finish material.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide an improved partition construction.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved construction between a partition and a wall or other partition.

A further object of this invention is to provide a fitting for use in partition construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fitting for positioning and securing partition frame member.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a fitting for anchoring wall finish material.

The foregoing objects of this invention, together with other ancillary advantages, are obtained by the construction and arrangement shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a fitting comprising an embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary partially exploded perspective view showing the fitting applied to building framing members; and

FIGURE 3 is an exploded sectional plan view.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail one specific embodiment, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, a frame building wall is illustrated including a sill 101, a plate 102, and studs 103 fixed between the sill and the plate, and flooring 104. A fitting 105 made according to the invention disclosed herein is secured to the sill 101 and the plate 102 to provide a base for a wall partition.

The fitting 105 is preferably fabricated from a sheet and includes an elongated body 106 having a top end 107 and a bottom end 108. A top flange 109 extends generally at right angles from top end 107 and has fastener receiving holes 110. Opposite side edges 111 and 112 of the fitting body 106 have a channel 115 and 116, respectively, extending for less than the entire length of the fitting. Each channel 115 and 116 has a side wall 117 formed by a return portion of the sheet material bent back against the body 106, a channel bottom 118 bent at right angles to wall 117, and a second side Wall 119 transverse to the bottom 118 and substantially parallel to and spaced from the first side wall 117. At the free edge of the side Wall 119 the sheet is bent transversely to the side wall 119 and away from the channel 115 to provide a partition flange 120 having holes 121 for receiving fasteners. A plurality of holes 122 are provided in the body ends 107 and 108 for securing the fitting to the exist ing wall structure.

The fitting is secured to the wall sill 101 and plate 102 by nails 123 passing through the holes 122 in top and bottom ends 107 and 108 of the fitting. The bottom end 108 of the fitting extends below the channels 116 and 117 to abut a sill 125 for the partition wall suitably secured to flooring 104.

The flanges and the walls 119 of channels 116 and 117, define a third channel 126 to receive a partition end stud 127 resting upon partition sill and which is secured to the fitting 105 by nails passing through the holes 121 in the flanges 120. A partition plate 129 is positioned on the top of the stud 127 and above the channels 116 and 117. The top flange 109 initially lies in the plane of body 106 but is folded over to engage the top of the partition plate 129 and is secured thereto by nails passing through holes 110 in the flange.

The wall finish material 130 on the building wall has edges 131 received in the channels 116 and 117 of fitting 105. The partition wall finish material 133 is secured to the partition end stud 127 in a conventional manner, as by nails 134, and preferably abuts firmly against the wall finish material 130.

In installing a partition between walls, the fittings 105 are preferably loosely secured to the wall framing members to permit final alignment of the partition, and thereafter are firmly secured to the framing members. The fitting may be used in conjunction with various types of wall finish material such as conventional dry wall, lath and plaster, or even wood paneling, by varying the width of channels 116 and 117. The fitting 105 is preferably fabricated of relatively light weight sheet steel, such as 26 gauge steel having a width of .020 inch and with sufficient resiliency to permit the body 106, and possibly the channels 116 and 117 to be sprung slightly for insertion of the wall finish material 130 into the channels 116 and 117. Other metals or suitable plastic materials may be used in lieu of steel. To facilitate springing of the fitting during insertion of the edges 131 of the wall finish material 130, the top flange 109 is bent after the partition plate 129 has been properly positioned, and this practice has the additional advantage of permitting a close fit between the flange 109 and the partition plate 129. When the edges 131 of the wall finish material 130 are in the channels 116 and 117, they are confined against movement and protected from damage.

The fitting is equally suitable for use in entirely new construction.

The fitting saves two 2 x 4 studs at each partition juncture with a wall.

It has been estimated that in a typical three bedroom home nineteen metal fittings 105 can be used thereby saving about 304 feet of 2 x 4 lumber. Since the cost of one fitting is approximately the same as that of one 2 x 4 stud which it replaces and less many nails, a substantial savings in cost of material is realized, in addition to substantial savings in installation labor cost.

I claim:

1. A wall joint construction for joining first and second walls at an angle to each other comprising, a one-piece wall partition fitting having a sheet-like body with opposite ends, a pair of integral relatively narrow co-planar channels extending lengthwise of said body and opening outwardly to the sides of the body, wall forming material for the first wall fitted within and extending from each of said channels in co-planar relation therewith, each of said channels being of a generally U-shaped with first and second sides, the first side being parallel and overlying said body in closely adjacent relation and the second side being parallel to said body and at a distance from said body greater than said first side, a pair of flanges extending normal to said body and outwardly from the outer extremity of said channel second sides whereby the flanges and channel second sides define a stud receiving space with said second sides defining the bottom of said space, a stud for the second wall positioned against the channel second sides and between said fianges and attached to said flanges and wall forming material for the second wall positioned against the exterior of said flanges and adjacent the wall forming material for the first wall disposed in said channels and completely enclosing said fitting said second wall forming material being secured to said stud.

2. A wall joint construction for joining a partition wall to a second wall with the joint forming structure hidden from view comprising, a one-piece fitting having a body; first, second, and third channels on said body, said first and second channels having outer edges and opening away from each other and lying in the plane of said second wall, Wall forming material for said second wall being in part positioned in said first and second channels, said third channel opening transversely to the direction of opening of said first and second channels, a partition wall stud positioned in said third channel, said third channel being defined by opposed flanges, one of said flanges being secured to said first channel outer edge and the other of said flanges being secured to said second channel outer edge and both flanges being secured to said stud and parts of wall forming material for said partition wall overlying both of said flanges and secured to said stud, said partition wall forming material extending to the wall forming material of said second wall to completely enclose said fitting.

3. A wall partitioning fitting for support of a partitioning stud and wall finishing panels consisting of a single length of resilient sheet metal formed to have a central, continuous, flat body portion, the opposite lateral edge portions of the strip each having in succession a first portion bent back to extend alongside the body portion in substantially parallel relationship therewith for a distance less than one-half the width of the body portion, a second portion extending forwardly substantially perpendicularly from the inner edge of the first portion, a third portion extending outwardly substantially perpendicularly from the forward edge of the second portion in spaced parallel relation with the first portion to define an outwardly facing channel section having sides defined by the first and third portions and a base defined by the second portion and a width corresponding to the width of the wall finishing panels for receipt of an edge portion therein, a final flanged portion extending forwardly substantially perpendicularly from the outer edge of the third portion with the final flanged portion on one edge section in spaced parallel relation the final flanged portion on the other edge section to define a forwardly facing channel section therebetween having the spaced third portion as a base and dimensioned to have a width to receive the stud therein with the back side of the stud in substantially abutting relationship with the third portion, said channel forming sections being resiliently movable relative to each other and the body portion along the edge connection with the body portion as a pivot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 980,102 Jeffers Dec. 27, 1910 1,121,679 Smith Dec. 22, 1914 1,214,738 Wolf Feb. 6, 1917 1,307,822 Kling June 24, 1919 2,013,763 Olsen Sept. 10, 1935 2,016,702 Bauer Oct. 8, 1935 2,079,635 Sharp May 11, 1937 2,101,952 Olsen Dec. 14, 1937 2,438,428 Birdsall Mar. 23, 1948 2,611,160 Hanesse Sept. 23, 1952 2,644,591 McMahan July 7, 1953 2,710,079 Kunert June 7, 1955 3,039,232 Dunn June 19, 1962 OTHER REFERENCES Reynolds Metals Co. publication, Designing With Aluminum Extrusions, pp. 6 and 7 of 1952. 

1. A WALL JOINT CONSTRUCTION FOR JOINING FIRST AND SECOND WALLS AT AN ANGLE TO EACH OTHER COMPRISING, A ONE-PIECE WALL PARTITION FITTING HAVING A SHEET-LIKE BODY WITH OPPOSITE ENDS, A PAIR OF INTEGRAL RELATIVELY NARROW CO-PLANAR CHANNELS EXTENDING LENGTHWISE OF SAID BODY AND OPENING OUTWARDLY TO THE SIDES OF THE BODY, WALL FORMING MATERIAL FOR THE FIRST WALL FITTED WITHIN AND EXTENDING FROM EACH OF SAID CHANNELS IN CO-PLANAR RELATION THEREWITH, EACH OF SAID CHANNELS BEING OF A GENERALLY U-SHAPED WITH FIRST AND SECOND SIDES, THE FIRST SIDE BEING PARALLEL AND OVERLYING SAID BODY IN CLOSELY ADJACENT RELATION AND THE SECOND SIDE BEING PARALLEL TO SAID BODY AND AT A DISTANCE FROM SAID BODY GREATER THAN SAID FIRST SIDE, A PAIR OF FLANGES EXTENDING NORMAL TO SAID BODY AND OUTWARDLY FROM THE OUTER EXTREMITY OF SAID CHANNEL SECOND SIDES WHEREBY THE FLANGES AND CHANNEL SECOND SIDES DEFINE A STUD RECEIVING SPACE WITH SAID SECOND SIDES DEFINING THE BOTTOM OF SAID SPACE, A STUD FOR THE SECOND WALL POSITIONED AGAINST THE CHANNEL SECOND SIDES AND BETWEEN SAID FLANGES AND ATTACHED TO SAID FLANGES AND WALL FORMING MATERIAL FOR THE SECOND WALL POSITIONED AGAINST THE EXTERIOR OF SAID FLANGES AND ADJACENT THE WALL FORMING MATERIAL FOR THE FIRST WALL DISPOSED IN SAID CHANNELS AND COMPLETELY ENCLOSING SAID FITTING SAID SECOND WALL FORMING MATERIAL BEING SECURED TO SAID STUD. 